Page 190 of The Maxwell Brothers
"Hi," I said before pressing my lips together. My voice sounded so high-pitched, like I was a young girl.
"Hey, Kendra," Tyler's mom said. "Nice to meet you. Call me Lena."
“Emmett,” his dad offered, shaking my hand. “And this is my mom, Beatrice.”
“Everyone calls me Gran,” Beatrice said with a warm smile.
I shook everyone’s hand, including Paisley’s.
"Thank you so much for doing this,” I told his parents. “I hope it's okay. I'm going to check again with the storage company where my sister had her stuff before, and as soon as they have something open, I’ll take my stuff there."
Lena smiled. Emmett was looking at Tyler, who put a hand around my shoulders, pulling me toward him. "Babe, relax. My parents are cool with your stuff being here until the house is ready."
I smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little bit intimidated," I said, deciding to lay out all my cards before they thought I was a weirdo. "Today was tough, and I wasn't expecting your sons and Reese to all show up and help me."
"Oh, they'd better," Emmett said in a deep voice. "That's how we raised them.”
He looked toward the driveway, where four more cars pulled in, and Travis, Declan, Luke, and Reese got out.
“Dad, we’re gonna need the keys to the shed,” Travis said.
“It’s already open,” Emmett replied. “Let’s get a start on the boxes. I already put some fans in there.”
It took us about half an hour to lay the books out on the floor to dry. I took my clothes and bedsheets directly to the basement of the house, where they had two sets of professional washing machines and dryers.
“I think we can get all the loads done today,” Lena said. “There’s a quick-wash and quick-dry program.”
“That’s great.” I smiled. “Do you have any trash bags? So I can put everything in them afterward?”
“Yes I do. Come on, let’s go up.”
The house was even more spectacular on the inside. The ceiling was high, and the interior was a mix of classic and modern. I’d never seen this design before—modern light fixtures, but ornate molding on the ceiling and Persian rugs. There were pumpkins everywhere.
“I like the Halloween decor,” I said.
“Paisley had a party here for Halloween with her friends from school. She asked us to keep them for a while longer.”
"It's so fancy but at the same time cozy," I said.
“Thanks,” Lena replied. “We upgraded it a bit once the boys were older. When they were kids, we had all sort of pictures hanging up and drawings they brought home, so they could play around and touch everything.”
I loved that they did that instead of just telling them to behave so they wouldn't ruin anything. Whenever I thought of the Maxwell family, I'd figured they’d be… different. And yet they were so down-to-earth, all of them.
We went into the living room, and Lena stepped behind their beautiful mahogany bar. Lexi, Paisley, Reese, and Gran were already here. The guys were still outside, it seemed. We all sat on the bar stools, except Gran, who sank into a plush armchair right next to it.
“What’s everyone having?” Lena asked.
“White wine for me,” Lexi replied.
“I’m with Lexi,” I added.
Reese tapped her palms against the counter, saying in a singsong voice, “I’m always up for wiiiine.”
“So am I,” Gran exclaimed.
Lena opened a white wine by Maxwell Wineries, of course, pouring it into five glasses. Paisley got orange juice. It felt like I’d barely sipped once from my drink when the guys returned, and they were a sight for sore eyes.
"Okay. Who's hungry," Travis said, "because I'm famished. Is there any food?"
